And, if this vegan violinist can be satisfied with a fine set of synthetic strings, well, good. But what about belts and shoes?
Wordwind, I am not a vegetarian but I have a son who is. He's very unobtrusive about it and he makes no effort to convert others. He wears leather belts and shoes and, at first, I thought, as you do, that that his use of leather is inconsistent with his principles.
I've never asked him to explain himself on this subject. Frankly, I admire the fact that he has given up something he used to enjoy, namely, meat, because he chooses not to eat anything that has been killed for his dinner when he can eat something else.
Since this is a personal conviction, and not a religion, is it fair of us to hold vegetarians like him to an absolute standard of performance? How many sincere environmentalists get lazy every now and again and neglect to recycle their pop cans? Do we think less of them for that, or question their sincerity?
In any event, a case can be made that some animals will die without being slaughtered and, therefore, it is not dishonorable, but intelligent, to use their hides for leather rather than send those hides to landfills. It can also be argued that horsehairs can be removed from a stallion for a bow string without causing any hurt to the stallion.
Most vegetarians aren't as kookey as they may appear to many of us at first blush.
